They Can't Stay Apart
by livingbetweenpages
Summary: The team is living together in a small town. It's their first time in the mortal world. Percy, Annabeth, Nico, Hazel, Will, Frank, Jason, Piper, Calypso, and Leo all have a chill thing going... until things get complicated. Will they have to protect new friends? Can they give the necessary advice to help these kids? Somethings can change anything, but nothing can mess with family.
1. Chapter 1

**Don't mind me, btw, I'm just watching this mess.**

"For gods sake, Nico!" Jason pounds on the bathroom door in frustration, "You've been in there forever! I have a meeting in less than an hour at the office!" He recently has received a promotion as chief flying instructor through the Society of Aviation and Flight Educators. Today plays a heavy role in deciding which students are ready to receive their certification. "Fine," he mutters. Visualizing the interior of the bathroom, Jason circles the air and creates a gentle tornado to better persuade his friend.

"Jason Grace!" Nico screeches, plowing him down after running from a disheveled bathroom. Will appears, rubbing his eyes, and looks down at the two on the floor.

"What is it with you two? Babe, just give him a turn. Jason, be quick about it or we will start using timers." Solace checks the time after neither of the guys listen to him. He just finished a night shift at the hospital and wouldn't mind a rinse.

 **There is nothing new going on upstairs, I peek to the lower level.**

Annabeth hears the commotion among the bedrooms. She tells Percy that they should go check it out.

He leans against the kitchen counter where they are supposed to be making breakfast for everyone. "Eh," he says, "It's Monday. We'll go if someone is close to bleeding to death."

Annabeth chuckles, "Hmm, well, they are quite capable on their own with that. Will is a healer. So, maybe just if a monster shows up."

"There are two kids of Hades and one of Zeus up there! Plenty capable," he adds. Looking into her eyes in the morning sun, that makes them shine like silver, he can't help but sigh. It feels impossible that you can love someone this much. Every moment between them proves that untrue.

Percy kisses Annabeth and she fits perfectly in his arms.

"Come on!" Hazel throws her arms up as soon as she walks into the room. "You had one job! Eggs! Just scramble some eggs."

The two pull apart and Annabeth throws the smoking pan into the sink. "Sorry! I started them, it's just, water boy, here, came in and distracted me," she explains.

"I wouldn't want your nasty eggs anyway. Put some granola bars or something on the list. And some Advil, for these head aches you all keep giving me! What are we going to eat now?"

"Depends; how long do potatoes take to cook?"

Everything was in a good place. The team had grown, now to hold nine demigods and Calypso. They all agreed to stay together so they could protect one another in the real world. At the time, they didn't realize the pact would take upon such a literal face.

Hazel Lévesque was the official name on the deed, but everybody crammed into that house. It didn't quite meet Annabeth's standards for layout, nor Leo's standards for size, but it worked. They had a system, everyone had a job they could withstand, no monsters as of yet, and no relationship problems. Which was saying something because being a young couple is hard enough without bumping heads with four other ones.

Things were going well. It was all new, yet, but it was all going to work out. Or so they all thought.

Jason wasn't the only one about to get a slight job change.

* * *

Keep reading for parts I and II of this story, "They Can't Stay Apart." I made part III a separate story for my own sanity. I truly hope you enjoy! I've had so much fun with these.


	2. Chapter 2

**Why do schools use such horrid sounds every hour? That complaint is from just me. Let that be noted.**

Percy opens the door of the car for Annabeth, "After you, my love," he says, grandly.

"Shh!" She pretends to be more upset than she is, "I thought we said we were going to keep our relationship on the down low at school."

Percy sighs, "Gods, the way you said that makes me feel like we are back in high school." They walk up the front stairs and wave to groups of students.

"We are," Annabeth says, "But, this time, we get to hand out detentions." He laughs and wants to hold her hand the whole rest of the hallway but remembers the rule. Not for long, he thinks to himself, it's hard to hide a change in your last name.

Annabeth turns into classroom 214 for homeroom. She will later prepare to teach her World History class.

Meanwhile, Percy still has to go to the other side of the school to get to the gym. He will never hear the end of becoming a gym teacher, but it is someone he always wished would have been kind in his school years. Plus, this unit is swimming.

 **Gods, there are so many of them. I'm going to give you a glimpse of all of their lives, but the exciting part comes later.**

Jason isn't always a fan of his students. It takes confidence to fly a plane, but that can easily turn into wise guys who make impulsive decisions based on macho feelings of invulnerability.

Right now, Kenny is running for the gold of that label. They climb into the cockpit for the student's final hands-on assessment.

He hates test days but remembers what Piper told him last night. "If you pass them, then they'll leave."

"So, Carlie, are you saying that nothing is your fault if someone else started it? All so you don't have to take responsibility for anything?" Piper is sitting across from one of her clients. She tries not to look at the clock more than once a session because it gives off indifference, but right now, she is counting every second.

"You really want something done? Just poke at 'em—"

"Oh, yeah?"

"Until they do something to you first!"

She should be planning for her class tonight but keeps getting annoyed at the guy completely misusing his katana.

Finally, Hazel puts down her pencil. "That jab is leaving you wide open," she mutters.

Putting on her 'helpful trainer' smile, she stops the man, "Excuse me, sir, but I couldn't help but notice your weak stance and open position. I could assist you in fixing it."

The man scoffs, "I don't need a little girl to teach me how to fight," he hoots. The Mist hides Hazel's spatha from humans, but her hand quickly finds the hilt of her sword.

She should tell him that she works here. "Have something to prove, big guy? Don't blame me for trying to intervene when I see a lost puppy." A woman who was lifting dumbbells a few yards over, chuckles. More people start to magnetite towards the action.

"I don't want to hurt you, sweetheart," he sneered.

"Sorry, but I couldn't say the same. Try me, bitch." And with that, the crowd goes wild and the game is on.

He notices that one of the new tiger cubs hasn't opened her eyes yet. All four of her brothers have and it is past the normal time. The mom won't let anyone near her or her new babies and there isn't a way to check up on her.

Unless you are a zookeeper who can shapeshift.

Frank waits until everyone is on lunch break and then eases into the locked exposure.

First, he turns into a turkey. "Not again!" He chastises himself, "Think like a tiger."

So, now he can only hear "Eye of the Tiger" lyrics, and that isn't helping.

Finally, he manages his correct disguise and assumes his unthreatening walk towards the animals. If he can just talk sense into her.

 _I could be on a beach_ , Calypso thinks to herself. _But, no, I had to complain about it, and now I am supposed to make something presentable out of this mess?_

She faces her newest project: to turn a backyard who's only plants are weeds, into a magnificent setting for a romantic wedding.

"The altar will be over there so the sunset will fall behind them," she explains to her team.

"But-"

She fakes a laugh, "Oh, Charles, did you actually just try to interrupt me? Now, we will have to dig up that set of bushes over there because it is really just atrocious."

We should be seeing Mr. Valdez at work, but he is currently wandering around a jewelry store.

One of the clerks approaches him. "Can I help you, sir?"

Leo realizes he is wearing ripped jeans and has grease all over him. Still, this is good for him. "I'm just looking for something to get for my girlfriend."

"Any special occasion?"

 _It's been a year since the first time she thought I was telling her that I loved her_ , he thinks _. I mean, I was originally talking to Festus, but it worked out._ "Nah," he says. "Do you need a reason to treat the person you love?"

The Line seemed cheesy to Leo, but the sales guy ate it up. After 15 minutes of how important the cut of a diamond is to it's sparkle, Leo decides to just ask Hazel.

that will be coming to Jefferson High for a semester. You have been assigned as his translator, as needed."

"But, I, I mean, I don't… I haven't worked with any kids," Nico stammers. So far, his job as an Italian interpreter has been pretty smooth. Most of his work is manual transcription and the office building is right near a graveyard. There are a few guys who help him out sometimes.

 **Ghost, I'm talking about Ghosts.**

"Then get ready to!" His boss cheers, "Bei tempi!"

"Fine, as long as you promise to not try and speak more Italian."

"Good idea, di Angelo."

"Don't go, Will, this floor will fall apart without you!"

Will slams his locker door shut. "Sorry, Bella, I will not work under these conditions. I can't help people if I can't keep my eyes open because of so many overtimes. I will not work for a man like Ferraro."

"So, that's it, huh?" He knows half the nurses on his floor would follow his lead if they could, but the reality of the situation doesn't change it.

"It was nice working with you Nurse Bella," Will says, giving her a little salute, "but, I quit. Goodbye."


	3. Chapter 3

"Don't you have practice as soon as the bell rings?" Annabeth squeals and feigns protest and her boyfriend leads her to the school's swimming pool.

"Those kids always take their time," he responds, "Come on, be crazy. It's just me. Just like old times."

They finally make it to the water and Percy tears off his shirt.

"Wait, wait," Annabeth laughs, "I'm wearing work clothes, sea-weed brain!" The water jumps up and swallows her, dragging her to her boyfriend; she breathes easy and even her hair stays dry.

They sit on the bottom of the pool and Percy makes a face.

"What?" Annabeth demands.

"You want to kiss me," he suggests.

"You are so full of your-"

"You so want me to kiss you." She continues to object but falls easily into his kiss. They really are the best at those underwater ones.

"Coach Jackson is drowning Ms. Chase or something!" Voices shout above water and the couple jumps up.

Annabeth hurries to explain and calm the crowd of teenagers when all the sprinklers in the room go off. A bird caws, circling around the room, but Percy and Annabeth know that it isn't just a bird.

In his panic, Percy may have burst some pipes, but it's not a priority right now.

No words need to be interchanged, any explanations needed will be dealt with later. They nod at each other and Percy plops them onto the ground next to the water.

Annabeth gestures to the group to circle around. "Guys, I'm going to need to guys to stay right here and stay calm. Perc- Mr. Jackson and I are going to deal with the bird. We will explain everything afterward and answer any questions." The message doesn't make it all the way through, the kids start calling things out now. What were you guys doing? What's the big deal?

The two demigods step away and face the harpy. Percy flips his riptide and Annabeth reveals that she never goes anywhere without her knife.

"Hey! You are an Alectryon, right?" Percy taunts the monster with the name of a cursed rooster. She squawks and comes diving right at him, so it works.

"Over here, ugly duckling! I bet you can't catch me!" Annabeth grins even in the face of battle. There is so much to solve, but, she can always count on that line.

She gets a slash with her blade and knocks it out with the butt of her knife. She looks down at it, lying unconscious on the floor.

"Well, that was no fun," she mutters and stabs it.

Percy jogs over, "You stole all my glory!" He flips the sword back to a pen but continues miming fighting moves.

"Get over it." Annabeth quips. And then they both remember the students. 19 of them, standing with their mouths open.

"How much you think the Mist gave us?" Percy murmurs.

"Whatever it was, probably not enough," she responds. They make the students sit in a group on the floor and eye the clock.

Percy starts, which probably wasn't the best idea, "Kids, I know what you just saw may have seemed crazy, but we are undercover FBI agents tasked to protect you."

"Shut up, Percy, we are not in the FBI! Why would we… we aren't in the FBI, but we are trying to protect you."

Not a great answer. The group bursts into questions ranging from if Ms. Chase and Mr. Jackson are dating to what that bird was.

Annabeth redoes her ponytail. "There is a very bad group of people who are genetically modifying animals into weapons. The creature we just took down could have pecked your whole eye out in one fell swoop." She hates scaring thm, but knows it is the best way to get their attention, "We work for a company just trying to stop the poor creatures from hurting anyone. There are a lot of pieces of reasons why we can't tell anyone else about this. We won't be able to get them if they see us coming. Do guys get it? Can we trust you?" A pause; no one speaks for a long moment.

"Okay," a girl says. Merissa is on Percy's swim team and is one of the best. She puts Annabeth's competitivity to shame. "So, two of our teachers that never share anything about themselves, just killed a bird with a sword and a knife, and we are just supposed to trust that? Where did you learn to do that? How do you to know each other?"

I don't believe "yes, from summer camp, and from this job" is going to work as an answer.

Percy hasn't stopping scanning the room and trying to figure out if any of the kids noticed strange things about the water.

"Come on, team, you all know me. Remember the time I slipped on the tile all the way down the side of the pool?" he says. A few scattered laughs. "Annabeth and I met when we were kids. I knew I was doomed the moment I met her." Annabeth scoffs and smacks him in the back of his head.

"But," she adds, "We'd prefer if you didn't share this with the whole school. Percy and I are trying to keep this on the down low." It seemed like a great way to finish because the students disperse in excited murmurs.

Percy wraps Annabeth in his arms and kisses the top of her hair. "I already know what you're thinking. It's one lone monster, it's probably nothing. Just another Monday."

"Just another Monday," she repeats in a daze.

Will and Hazel both try to stall until everyone else gets out the door, so they don't have to admit their joblessness. Until it is just the two of them.

"So…" Will drags out, "You have a class today? It must be so fun to teach those."

"Um, yeah totally," Hazel responds.

"You better get on then!" he says, cheerily.

 **To speed it up a few awkward minutes, they spend most of the day eating snacks and watching TV. They just really understood each other in the moment.**

"No, you can' go to the bathroom right now, Blake!" Percy yells, "Come on, Darcy! You got this! Only one lap after this one!" One of the reasons he loves being a coach so much is because he gets to yell constantly, and because half the time they are underwater, they can't hear him anyway.

 _Wow_ , he thinks, _I didn't realize that Merissa could hold her breath for so long._ He keeps scanning the pool and realizes that nobody is swimming in the middle of the pool.

Any more.

Percy hits the panic button on his watch that Annabeth linked up and faces a decision. He doesn't have time to get every kid out of the pool.

Sensing each of their locations, the water picks up and plops all of his students onto the surrounding concrete. 17…18… 19, they are all safe.

Really confused, but safe.

Now, the water is churning faster and completely cloudy, but he still can't tell what kind of monster this is. _Come on, show your face. What are you doing so far from the shore?_

"Percy!" Annabeth runs in with her blade ready. They lock eyes and Percy flips his coin.

"Team! Go with Annabeth! This is a lot worse than the bird, trust me. Listen to anything she says, dammit!" She'll get the kids to a safe place and then be back.

Except he really should have added one more thing to his instructions: no heroes.

Merissa runs in the opposite direction she is supposed to.

 _Dammit._ Percy dives directly into the mess of water and ducks a tentacle. He builds himself up in a funnel of water and is surprised to see everyone in the same spots.

"What the Hades!" he cries out. Most of the kids are in the corner, but Annabeth is chasing Merissa, both heading straight for the serpent head. This was not the plan.

He's making his way towards them but isn't fast enough. A slimy tentacle wraps around Merissa and another one, with spikes, grabs Annabeth.

For a split second, it feels like an impossible choice.

Until Annabeth starts stabbing her captor, causing it to roar in pain, reminding him that his girlfriend is a badass demigod who can handle herself.

"Hey, you looking for me? Your God piss you off somehow? Come over here, take it out on his favorite son!" Even from across the chaos, Percy can hear Annabeth scoff.

He leads the thing, that is starting to look like too many hybrids to name, in circles.

Just after he chops off the limb trapping Merissa, she disappears. She didn't fall into the water, type of disappear, and the entire room goes dark.

Kids are screaming, but Percy can sense Annabeth's presence still in the water. On a much worse note, he has no idea where his student is.

But, you can only focus on the problems in front of you. Channeling the energy himself, Percy calms the water completely. When the creature gets close to him again, he shoots it up into the celling.

When it finally comes back down, it crashes flat onto the concrete. Creating a crack straight down the middle of the lanes, the weight forces dust into the air. And it's still moving.

"Why isn't it dead!" he screams.

Annabeth laughs, "Who knows who Leo pissed off." She breaks off the mental pole that holds the midway flags and starts to beat in the things head.

Percy shoots columns of water any time there is an opening to its soft underside. "Since when are lone monsters this hard to kill? Do we have another Kronos situation on our hands? Gaea? Oh, come on!"

"Perce! They are both gone forever! Focus! Some Cetus can only be killed when you set their hearts on fire."

"Where's Leo when you need him!" This thing is healing too fast and they are running out of ideas. There is still a giant group of scared kids in swim suits in his protection. He starts screaming, "WhyCouldn'tIBeTheSonOfTheGodOfTheCuteAndFluffy—" as he dives head first into a very gooey mouth. That's one way to reach the heart, I guess.

Annabeth screams, but it's more out of anger and exhaustion at her boyfriend's antics than fear. _He'll be fine_ , she thinks.

The lights are flickering, but the electric lights are all busted useless from the ceiling being ripped apart, so something else is nearby.

She scans her mental bestiary for monsters with connections to the dark, but it's the middle of the afternoon on a sunny day. Still fending off flying spikes and the occasional flailing tentacle, she finds Merissa again. Until she disappears.

Monster with a good make-up artist or half-blood? She is probably sixteen or seventeen, so it seems improbable that an unclaimed demigod who didn't know about their abilities would make it this far in the mortal world.

Percy is still inside the fish-thing, but Annabeth knows he'll be fine. ' _Cause this girl doesn't date losers. My boyfriend is the Hero of Olympus, he can handle himself._

With her decision made, Annabeth runs to cut off the girl before she can reach the students.

"Don't take another step," she growls. Blood is dripping from her face. Not the best day to choose that white blouse, I guess. "You fuckers can mess with me all you want but stay away from the kids! They have nothing to do with this. I on the other hand, am ready to show you how wrong you were to mess with this child of Athena." Her voice is stone cold and the lights warm back up, again, just in general.

"What are you talking about! What is going on?"

Annabeth yanks another knife from her belt, "It's gonna suck to lose a good blade when I break the end off in your heart." She settles in her stance. "Good thing it's only my third favorite."

She is about to kill this girl. It would be easy- only two and a half steps.

"Lights!" Percy rushes out the words in his first breath of fresh air. "She's a half-blood! The monsters are smelling her. There is no way that thing did the lights."

Not a sound.

No one moves.

"I trust your instincts, seaweed brain. Piper can ask her to make sure," Annabeth finally replies calmly once she processes the information. All blades fold back into clothing. "Sorry for that mix-up, Allen. It happens to the best of us."

"Uh, Annabeth, babe?"

"Yeah?"

"We may have some clean up ahead of us."

"Already making the call."


	4. Chapter 4

They got it all. Crowds of students and locals who heard rumors about this disaster try to push the limits on the police tape. Abulances hand out shock blankets and a fire truck roared up, but no one has a clue as to what is going on.

Except for the ten people no one was really noticing.

Will throws his unemployed arms up, "I am not working as the school nurse because of your mess!" he insists.

"I'm way past having to be a guidance counselor!"

"A simple construction dude could fix that!"

"Yeah, they can't afford me! My designs are too classy."

"Well, I've already gotten stuck there, so whatever," Nico adds on.

"I feel like Nico and I might be the best experienced to help her, so maybe I can offer self-defense classes for the "traumatized" especially," Hazel notes.

"Anyone of us could teach that class!"

"When it comes to battle strategies," Percy notes, "I usually follow the girl with genius as her ability."

Annabeth swats him on the arm, "Hey! That's not how it works. Anyway, we still aren't sure what is going on. Two separate seemingly low-level monster attacks. Both times at the pool. Evidence points to something up with Merissa Allen. I say it's an all hands on deck situation. Percy and I can't raise any red flags to the school. I'm still not sure what the kids think of our sword fighting skills.

The entire wing of the building is destroyed, it's a perfect opportunity for Leo and Calypso to slide in on the contract. Will and Piper can help the students with all sorts of things. The only people who seem to be thinking at all were Hazel and di Angelo."

"I don't even get a name!" Nico pinches his face.

She doesn't get to answer before she collapses. Jason barely catches her, but no one is standing near Merissa.

"What did you do!" Percy runs over to Will who is taking care of the girls.

"Whatever that thing was, it poisoned both of them. I gotta check you out too, man."

"You gave them both ambrosia? What if she was a human?"

 **Okay, okay, spoiler alert, I just can't help myself, but the topic of conversation may not still be as sound asleep as the boys believe.**

"Then we'd be having a very different conversation," Will quips.

"Because she would be incinerated from the inside out! This is one of my best swimmers.  
I know her. She has trouble in school, but she goes home and helps her little brother out with his homework every day. This girl could break her leg and would still be swimming. Were you this careless in the hospital?" Percy is huffing for air by the time he finishes. It hits close to home, her story can feel a lot like his own.

"Why are we having an argument about a hypothetical thing that didn't happen? Okay? She was gonna has this wicked slash up her arm that I was ready to do stiches on, but I didn't get a chance. Now, look." Percy leans over. The scar already looks days old.

He gabs a finger in his blond friend's face, "This conversation is not done. How is this possible? Merissa just turned seventeen, man. She obviously has no idea what she is. And I haven't heard any mutters about Hades or Pluto being up to anything. Eerubus? How is she even alive?" He steps back and closes his eyes. "We figure it out. That's what we do. How's Annabeth doing?"

Remember, Merissa is laying there, scared out of her mind. She peeks out in time to see Percy crouching over Annabeth. Will has wandered away to grab something and he doesn't know anyone is listening.

"I'm sorry, wise girl. I should have never joked that it was a freak thing on Monday. You were right and I knew you were worried. Will says you'll be fine when you wake up. So hurry up and wake up, baby. I can't do this without you. I don't know what happened today, we've been through worse, but I got so scared. I love you far past the 600th floor."

Seeing him like that, some of the fear in Merissa weakens. Villains or people in the mafia aren't usually that loving, right?

Some of the group wanders over. "I got us tempory gigs at least," Leo says, gesturing to him and Calypso.

"Wow," Percy responds, dazed, "That was fast. I meant like later this week-"

"Piper helped."

Piper waves. "We got you, Annabeth, Leo, Calypso, and me working shifts at the school. I doubt Jason and Frank are going to wiggle in. We'll be fine. Plus, I've got Chrion on speed dial." They all nod in agreement.

Percy starts to. But, he can't stop nodding because suddenly he is so tired. The ground starts closing in on his face very quickly.

Merissa sits straight up, "Coach Jackson!" They should really be focused on their injured friend, but no one breathes for a second.

They all stare at a very-possible human.

Will rushes over and takes his pulse. "He is such an idiot. His heartbeat is racing like crazy. I told him I needed to check him out!"

"Calm down, healer boy, he'll be fine. He was probably being stubborn about it before because he didn't want to leave Annabeth's side," Leo says, "And, yes, I know it is possible to treat them right next to each other."

Piper seems to be the only person trying to connect more than one piece of this puzzle at a time. She crouches down to Merissa, but still tries to give her plenty of space, "Hi, my name is Piper McLean. This must seem so crazy to you, and I promise that we will answer all of your questions. But, all these people you see here? They are good people and you can trust us. This is my boyfriend Jason, that's Leo and Calypso, and the healer is an actual nurse, his name is Will. I work as a therapist and specialize with trauma. I also know first hand how confusing this is. Trust me, I was a field trip with a guy I thought I'd been pining for and finally gotten to kiss me, but we literally had never met before."

She stares up with wide eyes at the whole group, who has now all gathered by this point, "My name… my name is Merissa Allen. I don't know why, but I think I do trust you guys. I love Coach Jackson, he is the only reason I even have a shot for this scholoship I have my eyes on. But, where am I?"

"This is CampHalfJupiter2.0?" Leo tries.

"Get over it, Leo! That name is never going to stick." Calypso apologises, "The ten of us live here. Hopefully not forever, but it is safest for people like us. Especially since this is our first time in the mortal world and unprotected."

"People like us? First time in the mortal world? Unprotected? You mean, there are more creatures like today?" Merissa is panicking until Calypso kneels next to her and hums just enough for the girl to calm down.

"Those two are so much better at explaining this!" Leo says, pointing to the uncouncious couple.

"Yes, there are more monsters. But, there are ways to prevent them from finding us. We will teach you how to fight."

Nico and Hazel trot down the stairs, not expecting to see the crowd. Or medical supplies.

"Ooh! Fighting!" Hazel's eyes flashed before she took in the situation. "Wait, what happened? Are they dead? I will kill my father. I swear on the River of-"

"Alive!" Will yells before she can seal the promise. "They are not dead, just super unconscious. I think Percy had some pretty nasty internal injuries and maybe some bones broken, but he's Percy. And the ambrosia seems to be healing Annabeth. She was poisned. I wonder what it tastes like to her?" He spouts these facts completely nonchalantly.

Piper pats a spot on the couch next to her, "We were just about to call you guys."

"Now?" Hazel snorts, "I've been home almost all day!"

Nico turns to his sister, "Wait, I thought you we on until five tonght?"

She nods, "Mmhmm, I was. Until I got suspended. At least I hope my boss was leaning that way and I'm not actually fired. The guy totally deserved it though."

Frank, quiet until now, fails to hold in his laugh, "Again, babe? Ok, this is one of Percy's student's-"

"I still can't believe he got a job that actually requires responsibility," Leo says.

Jason coughs, "Her name is Merissa. She's a half-blood. Two monsters have targeted her. This last one was pretty nasty, but she did something with the lights."

Nico cuts in, "What kind of something? Was it like you were under a giant shadow or was the light sucked out of the room? Was there anything else?"

"And that's why we called the experts." Leo smiles and leans back in his chair.

Merissa stands up, "Are you guys, like, on something? I don't know what's happening, but I have to get home."

 _Sometimes you need to see it to believe it_ , Nico thinks. He remembers when he was first told half of these things. It's pretty easy to use shadow travel to jump right next to her.

"So-" he starts, but she cuts him off by screaming.

"Why would you think that was a good idea?" Will howls, "Sweetheart, there are calmer ways to start explaining things."

"No," she corrects, "I think I may have done something like that today. I… I dunno, I was super scared."

"You don't have to know anything just yet, sweetie," Piper says, "Jason, how about you show her one of your, er, modes of transportantion?"

Jason gives her a look, "Really?" Still not a fan of the wording, he elevates until he is a few feet off of the floor.

Merissa stares. "Okay, so magic is a thing. Do you all secretly carry swords around?"

"Yes."

"Duh."

"Yeah.

"It'd be stupid not to," Leo says, "But, mostly, I prefer to light things on fire."


	5. Chapter 5

Percy offers to give Enzo his tour of the school when he learned that he is very into sports.

"Welcome to Jefferson High, Enzo, my name is Mr. Jackson, I oversee most of the sports program here, but mostly swimming. I hear you are quite the athlete back in Italy." Percy turns on the charm he has worked to craft perfectly as a kind, but a professional coach.

Nico translates and then gives Percy Enzo's answer, "He says he played soccer, swimming was just a hobby, but he did it a lot. He's from Venice."

"Are you upset that I didn't praise your physical ability, Nico?" Percy jokes.

"Shut it, Jackson."

"It's fair, I mean you don't even need to run. Or walk if you really didn't want to." Nico glares at his friend until the student coughs.

"You know each other?" Enzo has a heavy accent and is cautiously slow when he speaks. Nico answers him in Italian.

"What did you tell him?" Percy demands. He switches to Greek, "And don't start with your thing about me learning Italian. I like my two languages very much, thank you."

"Both of them were inherently learned as your birthright!" Nico argues.

Annabeth strolls across the schoolyard in her world map button down. "Ciao, Mr. Esposito. I'm Ms. Chase, I teach World History here. How have you been settling in?" she asks, in flawless Italian.

"Oh, come on, does everyone here speak Italian, but me?" Percy whines.

"Probably. You could try to learn," she says with no sympathy. _Easy for them to say,_ he thinks.

The three geniuses walk about, completely abandoning Percy. Then he remembers that he should be getting to his office.

 **Plenty of things below are going to be said in Italian, but I don't speak it very well. So, you'll have to use your imagination.**

"We've already been to guidance, and have his schedule," Nico says to Annabeth. "Pre-Calculus, World History, Latin, gym, and intro band. This school does languages with exchange students a little bit differently since you will be picking up enough English just being here, they ask you to try a new language for the opportunity, but the grade isn't heavily weighted against your GPA. You are lucky enough to have Ms. Chase for World History."

Enzo looks over his day again, along with the little notes and explanations Nico wrote in the margins. "Band? I don't play any instruments."

"Don't worry," Annabeth explains, "It's just an intro class to learn about music and try out some different instruments. You'll be absolutely fine."

Nico looks at his watch, "You better hope so, it's your first class."

Annabeth punches him in the arm out of habit at his tone and some students stares. _Oops. You are a professional_ , Annabeth reminds herself, _You are a teacher at this school and totally command respect. But, dammit to Hades, I know this kid, I'm not weird or unusually cruel to strangers!_

Leo walks with Merissa to the destroyed pool area.

"That's not possible," she mutters. "I told myself it couldn't have been that far. I couldn't have run from there to there that fast." She fades off, mindless pointing from one wall to another.

"It's good that memories are coming back to you," Leo says. His thoughts jump when she starts to examine some of the damage, "Man, I can't even get a challenge these days."

"How do you all know each other anyway?" she asks. _Because this guy seems like a mess_ , she thinks.

"We were sort of meant to be," Leo explains, "I mean, water boy and Annabeth have been a couple forever. Annabeth saved Piper, Jason, and I from, you know, getting killed. Piper is going to be the guidance counselor for a while. Ms. McLean is totally someone you can go to for anything. And Calypso?" he runs out of simple explanations. "The new nurse is our friend Will, and his boyfriend happens to be interpreting for an exchange student this semester.

The girl is too busy looking around to pay much attention to detail. _This is where everything changed,_ she thinks

Leo claps his hands together awkwardly. "Well, I should pretend to get to work and it is time for you to get off to class." He softens when he sees the lost expression he knows all too well. No jokes. "Merissa? I can't promise anything certain about today. But, I will say that we will stop at nothing to protect you. You are a part of our team now. Even if today goes to Hades, you have thousands more ahead of you."

Merissa keeps thinking about what Leo said even when she sits down in music class.

The teacher reaches the front of the room, "Okay, class! This morning, I'd like you to welcome a new student. Lorenzo is an exchange student from Italy this semester and Mr. di Angelo is going to be here to interpret for him until he gets the hang of things."

The boy of the hour steps forward a bit and his bright eyes scan the room mischievously. He turns around to whisper something to Nico.

He shakes his head and hisses, "I can't say that!" They go back and forth a few times until Nico coughs into his fist, "Enzo is a 5th former from Venice who loves music and performing in front of people." The boy shoots him a dirty look and everyone seems to be in on the joke except the teacher.

He hurries to offer Enzo a guitar. Nico is probably feeling a little too smug to be professional until Enzo strums his first chord.

He plays a tune perfectly and Nico figures he lied until he starts singing beautifully. With his leg propped up on a chair and his eyes closed, he looks like he doesn't even realize what he is doing.

The class is energized. Nico overhears one kid's whisper, "Is that Italian?"

 _No_ , Nico knows, _it is flawless Latin._

 **Looking back, Nico definitely could have handled the information better.**

Nico grabs the guitar out of the boy's hands and pulls him out the door. He leaves behind some senses of fear for the class to absorb, in hopes that they'll start a rumor that the new guy is famous or in witness protection.

Walking as fast as he can, and pulling his bewildered client along behind him, Nico comes crashing into Annabeth's homeroom.

She stops writing on the board and scolds him, "Nico! You can't interrupt me while I'm teaching!"

Feeling like a kid, he rubs the toe of his shoe into the floor, "We may have a situation." She tries to cut in, but he raises his voice in Greek, "He was playing the guitar and singing in Latin perfectly!"

The kids stay quiet out of sheer fascination of the exchange.

Annabeth speaks in undertones, "No." And then in Greek, "Two in a week? I purposely chose this town because it was the most nondescript, uninteresting in the state." Except she might have slipped back into English for the last part.

Nico laughs, but can't get any words out.

"Go talk to Piper or your boyfriend," she mutters and kicks him out the door. She has a lot of explaining to do. _Or at least a lot of lies to makeup_ , she thinks.


	6. Chapter 6

"Well," Will agrees, "it does seem like there is something going on, but we need to know for sure." Enzo tries to figure out what they are talking about from the hallway, again.

"Come on, babe, I've dragged him all around the school. If he is human then he is supposed to be getting an American education and I am just an invisible Google translate. But, we don't need a repeat of earlier incidents, especially if this one ends up dead! Can't you talk to your dad?"

Will scrunches up his face, "He hasn't been talking to us much. You really think he's my brother?"

"Yeah, a roman one."

Feeling like he'd do better pulling out his hair, Will brings the boy inside the nurse's office. And looks at Nico when he starts freaking out in Italian.

"Shh," Nico says, sitting them both down, "We are not the mafia. This is Nurse Will Solace. We want to help you."

After getting an idea, Will whispers into his boyfriend's ear, "Speak to him in Latin."

Nico does. Enzo responds even as Nico switches to every obscure dialect he can think of. Finally, he looks hard at Enzo, "Do you know what language you were just speaking in?"

The student laughs at the question, "Italian? Wait, did I say something in English?"

Nico sighs, "No, you said all of that in perfect Latin."

"Latin? That is a dead language. I only learned some in school for, er, roots?"

Will pulls Nico onto his feet, "Okay. I believe you. What the Hades we do now?"

"You know I hate it when you say that! Anyway, Annabeth and my sister are the ones who make up the plan. Speaking of…" Nico stabs the schedule he pulled out of his pocket with his finger. "He has her now. As in right now!" He drags Enzo out the door and down the hall, again, trying to soothe him with promised of explanations.

They run into the room without knocking.

"Really, Nico? At least this time you are supposed to be here," Annabeth mutters, "Class! This is Lorenzo Esposito, our exchange student this semester from Italy. Mr. di Angelo here will be helping translate for him when he needs it. Welcome, Lorenzo. Tell us something about yourself."

He stands with twenty sets of eyes on him. "I like fútbol," he says. The class claps politely and he takes a seat in the back with Nico dragging up another one next to him.

Ms. Chase draws the class' attention back to her. "Ironically enough," she says, her voice unusually cheery, "our next unit is Ancient Rome!" The students don't get her meaning, but Nico snorts and settles into his seat.

Enzo understands some English, but the chatter of everyone on top of each other is too much. He slouches over his desk, drawing with his finger on the surface.

Annabeth clicks her tongue, "This isn't going to be a full unit, but I thought we could have a fun little detour. Ancient Rome is a magnificent empire that should be respectfully admired. Their architecture was revolutionary and they are not to be overlooked."

Nico coughs from the back. "Nerd." Some of the kids laugh and Annabeth has to bite her tongue.

"I thought it would be, interesting to look at their mythology, which at the time was worshipped as closely as Christianity and Islam is today, so have some respect. Can anyone name one of their gods or goddesses?"

Nico hurries to drop the hint about Enzo. "Apollo!"

Thankfully, intelligence will never be one of Annabeth's faults, and she picks it up. "Ah, yes, Apollo, the god of many things. Carries many similarities from the Greek god we studied earlier this year and is the only name that carried over between the eras. Apollo is the god of music, for one, poetry, healing, prophecy, and even the sun. He is best at archery and plays the lyre Hermes created for him." Nico makes sure to repeat this all to Enzo.

Annabeth asks for more names and a few kids throw out a few.

"If all the gods were so powerful why was Minerva so useless?"

"I told my host family that I am staying after and they were so excited I am meeting people they didn't care. Or maybe they didn't understand a word I said," Enzo says. Nico nods and Annabeth laughs.

Percy struts up to the group, "Okay, Enzo and Merissa good to be here? Cool, Leo and Calypso finished work early and are waiting at the house with Hazel and Frank. I don't know where Will and Piper are—"

"She ditched me!" With his grand entrance, Will hugs Nico, "She doesn't love me!"

His boyfriend rolls his eyes even as he enjoys the embrace, "Pipes mentioned Jason coming to pick her up."

Annabeth frowns, "It's broad daylight. He's going to be seen one of these days."

With the students still clueless and blindly trusting, they pile in Percy's van.

Even when they get to the house/compound, none of the demigods are sure how to proceed.

Nico opens the door, "Jason should be good at this, he had to figure this all out twice."

"So did I!" Percy argues.

As snacks are gathered, Annabeth rolls out her whiteboard, because of course, she does. "We got a few different languages here, so Nico helps out Enzo in this round. Merissa, Enzo," she says, addressing the newbies, "This all seems crazy, I know. So far, all you need to know is that we are working without. Being like us can be very dangerous, and we want to make sure you stay safe. We aren't sure specifics in your case, but all of us are demigods. We are also called half-bloods, although Piper isn't a fan because we have one human parent and one god. You both probably don't know one of your parents, maybe divorce, maybe you were told they were dead? We are going to try to find out who your godly parent is so we can better train you."

 **Pretty good summary, all things considered, don't you think? Merissa and Enzo do not agree, but I'll spare you their yelling.**

Nico leads the next part in Roman, "Enzo, you are obviously of Roman descent because you understand me without even realizing I'm speaking Latin. Jason, Frank, Nico, and Hazel all speak it as well." Merissa's jaw dropped. He switches to English, "Test one complete, Merissa is obviously Greek."

Completely lost, she asks, "What language was that?"

Percy jumps down from her perch on the arm of the couch, "Latin. Our brains are hardwired to understand Ancient Greek. In English, most of us have dyslexia and have been labeled with other learning problems. It depends which form your godly parent was in, but that is complicated. me and—"

"If you are going to list our names, honey, it will be 'and I'" Annabeth interjects.

"Annabeth, Piper, Leo, Calypso, Will, Nico, and I are all Greek," Percy finishes.

"Why is Nico the only one who is both?"

Nico makes a face, "Next!"

Walking up to her whiteboard, Annabeth draws a line down the middle. "Here's what we know," she says.

 **Below is all they have after a few minutes. Yeah, it really isn't much.**

Merissa

 **-** Greek

-Something with darkness?

Lorenzo

-Roman

-Good at music w/o practice

-Nico says Apollo

Nico scoffs, "Why am I the only one supposed to figure this out?"

"Because you are the best at it all," Will teases. Nico wacks him on the arm.

"Enzo, I am the son of the Greek Apollo, maybe we can see if you are any good at archery or healing people," Will says.

Hazel steps in, "Merissa, you said you moved impossible distances. Percy mentioned sudden darkness in the fight, but both these things only happened when your life was in danger. Don't worry, that's pretty normal. It might be my father, er, the Greek side, Erebus, or Nyx. But, I'm spitballing here."

"Are you an early bird or a night owl, Merissa?" Annabeth asks.

"Uh, actually I love night-time, but it's more the quiet and the darkness that gets me."

"Selene? You like the moon?" Before Jason can finish the rest of his thoughts all hell seems to break loose.

A rabid looking grizzly bear seems to appear in the middle of the living room and charges straight towards Merissa.

It swipes at her with wicked claws and roars with decibels that shake the house.

That's when the lights go out. Darkness encompasses the room and the bear looks around in confusion. It can't find the girl because she is ducked behind the couch breaking apart a chair. Not thinking that she'd have much power breaking it across her back, Merissa gets ready to shank the animal with the wooden leg she broke off.

Will helps brighten the room, "And that's a wrap!" The team starts clapping, but Merissa looks pissed.

 **I'm with her on this one. What were they thinking? She must've been scared for her life.**

That is when Frank shifts back into his human form. "Sorry, I overheard you guys and thought the only way to give Merissa access to her powers was to force a fight-or-flight response."

First, barely visible above her, a symbol darkened over Merissa. A whole moon in the center of a waxing and waning crescent glowed but somehow had a darkness that looked like it could swallow you whole. She had been claimed.

By the primordial goddess born of Chaos, Nyx.


	7. Chapter 7

"Okay, just take a breath and try one more time," Will says, easing a new arrow into Enzo's hands.

The team is pretty sure Enzo is a son of Apollo, but are trying to test his abilities anyway. So far, he is horrible at poetry and archery and shows no signs of prophecy.

Wiping the sweat from his forehead, Enzo drops the bow, "I don't know what you believe is going to happen, Will. It is so hot, I might, er, boil." He swats at the sun as if to push it behind some cloud.

Will grins, "Do that again. Focus on making the sun go away." Sighing in defeat, the boy does as he is asked, but doesn't expect results.

It's not much, but Will is amazed by the strength of a beginner as the sun moves a bit to the left in the sky and the air cools.

That's when he sees his dad's symbol shining brightly above his brother.

He captures Enzo in a sudden embrace, "We did it! Welcome to the family, little brother."

As confused as Enzo was, and has been for the entire afternoon, he lets a small smile out. It is just him and his mom at home, dad was never in the picture, but she always told the magical stories of the man who moved the sun for her. Now, he is back, and a real-life god, but, most importantly, he has a brother who already has done everything he can to care for him.

" _Fratelli_ ," he says into Wills' shoulder, "Brothers."

 **We may not know what will happen to the youngsters, only that the original team will do everything to get Merissa to Camp Half-Blood, and keep in touch with Enzo overseas. But, in the end, all they could do was hope for was that they prepared them in the few months they had. They both ended up preferring swords and Hazel was the perfect person to teach them how to use them. Nico taught Merissa how to shadow travel and Will spent every possible moment with his newfound little brother. A few monsters tried themselves against the new demigods, but they were ready. And the two kids, who had never quite felt like they fit it or had a place in the world, got energetic, in your face, family with the package. This is what a happy ending looks like.**

The End

το τέλος

Finis


	8. Chapter 8 - Part II

**About that "the end" business, apologies, nonsense, I know. Now, where were we? Right! Percy and Annabeth were working at a school when one monster attacks, and then another one. Will, Nico, Piper, Leo, and Calypso all get jobs there for protection and learn about two half-blood students. Merissa is a daughter of Nyx while Lorenzo turned out to be a son of the Roman side of Apollo. Fascinating stuff, really. The summer was a tad dull, so I will skip you a few weeks forward (you're welcome) to the fall. Let's dive in, shall we?**

"Be honest, Percy, should I change into something else? Is this dress commanding of respect enough? I don't want to look flimsy," Annabeth says, inspecting her black dress in the mirror.

"Babe, when the son of Death is afraid of you, that should be sign enough. Those eyes are scary," he says and then jumps back from her glare.

A head pokes in the doorway, "I heard that you know. I am not afraid of Annabeth," Nico says.

Percy shoots him a look, "Dude, you should be." Nico goes on to argue about how he that he is a grown man until his boyfriend wander by and interrupts.

"Nico, you have on bunny slippers and would take a bath everyday if you could. And you are definitely scared of Annabeth. We all are." And another swing and a miss. Will darts away in surrender, but Nico's exit is more huff and shuffle style.

Percy props his chin on Annabeth's shoulder in the mirror, "You look amazing. You are the best teacher at JHS and are going to do amazing things this year."

She smiles, but still says, "We need to get you some new adjectives."

He pulls some running water from the bathroom to shape a giant thumbs up for his girlfriend.

Frank yells at him from the bathroom, "Dammit, Percy!"

Jason, Frank, and Hazels' jobs don't care about summer, so today is nothing new. But, since keeping jobs at the school, Leo, Piper, and Will are accompanying Annabeth and Percy's first day. Nico returned to his day job after Enzo returned to Italy and Calypso couldn't stand being away from her designing job.

Annabeth flattens the skirt of her dress down uncharacteristically.

"Wise girl, what's wrong? You've done this before and you can do it again, are you worried about something?" Percy asks when he notices his girlfriend's flittering.

She notices her pulse is unusually fast, "I can't tell you, Perce, I just have this feeling that something is going to happen today."

"So, what," Piper says, "Nothing big happened today. That doesn't usually mean anything good, so I, for one, am glad." Day one was hectic for her, a nonstop line of lost students and having to re-print schedules. She never even got lunch.

Annabeth storms into the house and throws her bag on the couch. "I can't explain it, Pipes, but it's a gut feeling and I'm never wrong."

Piper drops the apple she was eating, but before Annabeth can respond, she whispers into the blonde's ear.

Percy walks in the door just as Annabeth pales. "Nope!" she swears, "Not possible! Not yet, I am not doing this out of order. I, no, you're way off, McLean."

Percy looks between Piper's smug and knowing look and Annabeth's freak out. He asks if she's okay, but she hasn't stopped mumbling to herself before the phone rings.

She puts up a finger, "It's work," she groans. She seems to be making all of the right noises and keeps jotting stuff in her notebook. "Alright, thank you Mrs. Ferrel, no, it is alright, yes, I'll keep you up to date."

Roommates has begun filling up the room, so Annabeth has to face her friends. "That was probably the weirdest phone call I have ever gotten from my boss. She was notifying me that a new student will be joining my class tomorrow."

Percy makes a face, "Old Feral Ferrel? She isn't the type to make special phone calls."

"Don't be rude, she was very polite. She said that the new student is very troubled."

Leo snorts, "Weren't we all."

"As in, they just got out of a mental institution for killing a man they claimed was a monster. Anyway, Azher in foster care and it looks like someone worked hard to get a normal high school to offer enrollment. The file notes the child as messy, energetic, rude to authority, and prone to violence among other learning disabilities."

No one says anything for a minute. It might be because Annabeth is still frantically writing in her notebook and has an odd energy going on or the information dump.

That is, until Percy speaks up, "Wait a minute, whether or not what we are all thinking is true, that file sounds like it could have had my name on it. Listen, ADHD, dyslexia—"

"Rude." Piper punches Jason as soon as he says it.

"What I am saying is, I will do anything to give this kid a chance. It would have been nice if someone ever bothered to give me one. And if it is a situation…"

"What are you all talking about!" Annabeth cries. Percy had never seen her so frazzled before and was trying not to laugh.

"It sounds like we have a possible half-blood, wise girl."

"Oh," she says, softly. She crumples to the ground, "Oh." So, Percy just sits down too and holds her for a while.


	9. Chapter 9

After Piper helped her get through the morning, Annabeth starts to take attendance for first period. Just after the bell rings, a flurry of papers and a squeaking of sneakers introduces Azher.

Before Annabeth can welcome the new student, words are snapped to her.

"It's Carter. Just Carter. I'm new, that's it." Keeping their head high against the class's stares, they take a seat in the back.

And Annabeth realizes she is staring. "Well, class, make sure to welcome Carter to the school when you have a chance. Now, yesterday—"

"What, we have to be nice to someone when we can't even tell if they are a boy or a girl?" Freshmen, she thinks, why did I agree to teach freshmen?

Nip it in the bud. Ms. Chase silences the rest of the class only by walking achingly slowing to the bully.

"Excuse me?" she asks the boy.

His eyes have gone wide and he sinks in his seat.

"No, no, please sit comfortably because you have made sure that the student you ridiculed cannot. What is your name?" She repeats it, all while smiling until he answers.

"Michael Bones."

"Alright, Michael, well my name is Ms. Chase, and I will not allow any bullying here. Carter came in a new student, therefore, with plenty of reason to take up a few moments of attention but chose not to. You, then, chose to take away from your classmate's valuable time. That comment was harmful, but I will not force you to apologize in front of everybody. I hope you will choose that on your own." Surprised, and mildly horrified of her actions, Annabeth has to walk back to her desk. "Carter, I want to give my warmest welcome. Now, yesterday I spoke about where we were going to start. This class is Intro to World History and we have an exciting year ahead of us!"

 **And I genuinely think that Ms. Chase managed to play it cool for the rest of the class. She brought out her different world maps and generally geeked out in front of the kids. But, one set of eyes was attentive the entire time.**

Percy blows on his blue whistle, "Okay, guys! Come into the center, here. I'm Coach Jackson and I don't want it to sound cheesy when I say I'm hoping for a great year with you all. We will do a variety of workouts and I hope you leave with a better idea of your body and how to exercise right for you. I know this might just be a dreaded requirement for some of you, so please talk to me so we can figure out how to make this work for you. Now, go get changed and be back here ASAP." He claps. Percy loves the things he can do and still just be a normal gym teacher.

He knows plenty of kids have a rough time of P.E., so he tries to make it as painless as possible. He was always a scrawny kid and even now, his muscles aren't that big. Half-bloods metabolize and heal so quickly, that visible muscle doesn't stay for long.

 **We all know Percy does not have to worry about his strength or even his muscles. I am not concerned one bit.**

Yelling starts from behind him and Percy spins around. Two of the students are throwing punches in a fight that already doesn't need to go any farther.

"Shut up! You might think you are pretty, but even if you are: do you know what they do to all dolls eventually? Throw them in the garbage where they belong!" The kid is small, wearing baggy clothing and tattered sneakers.

"Whoa!" Percy yells, stepping in between them. "What is going on!" _Gods, it's the second day,_ he thinks. Changing his mind, he waves away the spectators, "If you're not dressed yet you should be, and if you are: go to the center with Mrs. Blitz and she'll explain the warm-up." In a dramatic shift from his yell, he points to the fighters in a hushed voice, "You two are coming with me to guidance. Nope! I don't want to hear it. I don't care who started it or who's fault it is. We are just going to talk it out." He doesn't want to get them in trouble, even though he is supposed to let the principal handle fights.

Zero-tolerance is not usually the fairest option; just the easiest. These kids don't need to be suspended on day two, he is a strong believing in second chances.

 **Just so you know, Piper's morning was finally calming down. She was taking a breath and praying to mother for peace. That is not what she got.**

The students were already bickering when they walked into her office. At Percy's desperate look, she tries to charmspeak some calm into them.

"Hi guys, my name is Piper, why don't we sit down, hmm?" Automatically, she soothes the boy, but the other kid takes another nudge. "Right here, let's just talk. That's it."

Percy tries to explain, "They were in a fist fight when I saw them. I didn't ask anything else."

"They were rude to me," one of them says.

"My mom says tr***ys like you are going to Hell!" goes the only one.

Percy feels like he can't breathe every time someone says something like that. "Hey!" _You don't throw the H-word around,_ he thinks.

"Okay," Piper says, "Let's break this down. I already see two possible things to work on. Number one, we don't get into fist fights just because someone is mean, or you disagree with them."

"Yeah, you should have a good reason," Percy adds. Piper shoots him a disapproving look.

"We don't use hateful slurs against anyone or tell them they are," Piper pauses, "going to that place. Those are both inexcusable. We do not allow bullying here. Now, I should write you up and possibly call for a suspension. But, I'm not going to." The kids both look up in surprise, here they thought they were in big trouble.

"I'm not going to be so nice next time. So, don't let there be one. Now, scat." Not waiting for the counselor to change her mind, the students dart for the door.

"Hey, mythomagic shirt, mind staying back for a sec'?" Percy says, stopping the smaller student. "You're not in any more trouble, what's your name?"

"Carter," they say softly.

"I wanted to ask you something kind of personal. I notice that you never went into one of the locker rooms. Would you be more comfortable with a single stall or gender neutral one? We have one in the hall outside the gym and you can go through my office. It's just an offer." Percy is worried they'll be offended, but Carter beams and nods.

"Alright, I'll show you where it is," he says. Piper smiles at him and he winks.


	10. Chapter 10

Hazel walked around with Leo for hours, looking for the perfect stone. Leo was going to do it. He was going to propose to Calypso. But, what ring is fit for a goddess?

Finally, weeks later, he has everything together. He found a little spot in the woods where you can see the stars at night as if you could touch them.

He has it all timed perfectly, first a short walk, then a dinner picnic with her favorite dish of his. Then, he will light a small fire and cook marshmallows. She has never made smore's before and tonight it the perfect moment. Leo Valdez is determined to make it all perfect.

And it goes well at first. I mean, he is fidgeting and can barely walk in a straight line, but things are great. The walk went without mishap and they found the spot as planned.

But, then, his rice dish spilled in the basket and the only salvageable food was the pupusas.

Then, he made a small fire and brought out the marshmallows. Except, when he came back with sticks to cook them on, there was a ranger talking to Calypso.

He is trying to put out the fire, but Leo is so tense that he forgets to let it extinguish.

"What's going on?" he demands.

The official-looking boy scout stands up, "I came to tell you that this is no fire zone, sir." He pulls out a small notebook but drops it in the fire by accident.

"Got it!" Leo says and places his hands in the flames. The ranger screams, Leo realizes what he has done and yanks the notebook out and puts out the fire in an instant.

This is not going according to plan. "Come on man! Just let me have this night, I've never come back again. This can still go right."

Calypso snorts, "Just what is going right about tonight, Valdez?"

This is not romantic. This is not the under the stars night he envisioned. He could laugh it off, probably pay a fine for the fire and figure out how to explain how he isn't burned at all.

But, he doesn't do things on a schedule. His plans never work out. But, he can't wait, he wants to spend the rest of his life with this woman.

For months, he has written and re-written his big speech, but, tonight, when he digs it out of his pocket and looks at the words—they all sound wrong. The paper turns to ash when he crumples it in his hand.

Taking a deep breath, he gets down on one knee, "Calypso of Ogygia, I had a plan. I mean, I was just an ordinary kid. I grew up being told I was trouble and I believed it. I thought I knew what my life was going to look like. And then there was the whole," he looks at the stranger and wishes he'd just take a hint and leave, "um, adventure. And all of the almost dying? I'd do it a million times over if it meant that I got to meet you.

"You, you are too good for me. I think we both know that. But, Calypso? When I'm with you, I don't need a plan. I trust you with everything I have, and I know that we will figure it out. It was supposed to be impossible to find you twice. But, I did. And I feel like I find you again every day. I love you and I want to keep finding you every day, for the rest of my life. Calypso of Ogygia, will you marry me?" Leo barely made it halfway through talking before he started crying. And she is too, but she hasn't said anything.

"Who told you?" she asks in a soft voice, "Because if that is the only reason then I don't want to—" Leo was just starting to stand up. But. He. Falls. To. His. Knees.

"No one told me," he gulps, "Anything. I've been planning this for months and I know tonight was a mess…"

She pulls me him up beside me and kisses him for a long time. "Yes, you idiot! Yes! I want to marry you!" He lets out a long-held breath and fumbles to get the ring on her finger.

He kisses her again and hugs her and kisses her and doesn't know what to do.

"Get out here, creepers," he yells. Eight people climb out of the woods in embarrassment.

Piper talks loudly about how surprised she is that they were the first to get married. Hazel shows off her ring to Nico and they bring Calypso in a group hug.

Frank is walking the confused ranger away with soothing words as Percy and Jason goof off about who knows what.

Finally, Calypso leans in so only Leo can hear her. "Do you want to know what I was talking about? Only Annabeth and Will know. I'm pregnant."

And, so, Leo kisses her again.


	11. Chapter 11

**You can't deny that things were going great. Leo and Calypso were engaged and going to have a baby. Percy was de-escalating conflicts like a pro and no disasters have struck, as of yet. Ha.**

"… I mean Φαινόταν πως ο Διόνυσος είχε επισκεφθεί," Annabeth jokes and accidentally switches to Greek. Most of the students looked confused and paid no heed to their kooky teacher, except for one. This boy sat close to the door. Annabeth thinks his name is Clark, but she can't be sure. He has been quiet so far this year, she'd barely heard him speak. But, he laughs.

Not many people understand Ancient Greek well enough to understand a joke about the god of wine. Not many at all. Especially not freshman.

Annabeth forces the clutter from her mind and finishes the class.

It isn't until after the bell cues their slow shuffling out the door, that Annabeth looks up her class list.

Clark Necio, a new student this year. She scans his file, but there isn't much to see. Not a thing out of the ordinary.

Maybe she has had her eye on the wrong kid. Azher didn't show any sign of understanding. Annabeth would understand the reference slip past, but it is in our blood. She sighs and writes Clark's name on her list.


	12. Chapter 12

***sigh* Honestly, if you didn't see this coming, I don't know what to do at this point. Of course, a monster is noticing all this. But, the team didn't know if either Carter or Clark were half-bloods. It might have been someone else altogether.**

It knocked. Nothing about the day was so out of the ordinary that Annabeth should've given it a second glance, so she didn't.

She hasn't been sleeping. It is fantastic news about Leo and Calypso, but Percy has been acting odd. With everything going on, she shouldn't be questioning her relationship. Does he want to follow their friend's footsteps, right now? Then again, things are never not going to be chaos. It is the life of a demigod.

She has also been losing sleep from dreams about something big coming. Why can't she ever get a clear sign for anything?

It knocked on her classroom door at 8:45 am. Halfway through her first class, and one that was actually going well for once.

The kids saw a janitor. The man had a bushy beard and smelled funny, but that was all.

Carter saw something very different. They started screaming and cowering against the farthest wall of the classroom. Some were laughing at the spectacle, others were too confused to do much of anything.

Annabeth gulped and pressed her watch because she knew exactly why her student was terrified. She could see the horns and the scales. And this thing was ugly.

"I got a call," the man says, "My friend here says you need a disposal right away." Clark stands up and stretches into his true form. Even though the Mist shades them from the truth, the students know that something is up and shuffle unease towards their teacher.

The monster piles some of the desks to block the only exit out of the room. Having heard Annabeth's distress signal, Piper is first to the door and locks eyes with her friend throw its window.

Kickin open the door like it's made of cardboard, Piper groans when Annabeth motions for her to take the kids.

"Why do I always miss out on the fun? Yep! Okay, come on kids, lets get out of here," Piper hurries to her task after meeting Annabeth's glare.

Leo and Percy are next to join the fun, late as usual. The fire alarms won't go off without detecting anything, so Leo gives it something to cry about. Once the whole building is screaming, he walks the halls, warning about an electrical fire and adding that this is just a precaution.

That leaves Percy, Annabeth, one student, and two monsters.

"The one day for Will to take off!" Percy says.

Annabeth turns to her student while Percy keeps the monsters distracted for a moment. "Carter, I need you to go outside with the rest of the school. I will explain it all. You are not dreaming. This is real and you cannot tell anyone."

Carter isn't screaming anymore. No tears run down their face, only determination. "Nope. I never run from a fight. I'm not going anywhere." Annabeth could argue, but when she recognizes the fierce look in Carter's eye as one of her own, she gives in. "Fine. But, you stay behind me and do everything I tell you."

Clark hears it all. "Ooh! I have to go through you to get her? Two for the price of one!" Him and his partner work to corner the two. Percy jumps on the one who posed as a student and holds his Riptide to it's throat. Who throws him off easily, but it becomes too distracted to worry about Carter.

Annabeth drops her aggression and puts on an act, "You boys look mighty strong. What are you doing all this worrying for over one little half-blood? One who doesn't even know anything." She has to do everything she can not to look at Carter's broken expression.

"Yeah, Κλάρκ, Posideon didn't give us a reason," the older monster says. It would be a perfect time to take out Percy, who froze at his father's name, but Clark seems stuck on the difficult question.

"We never question our Lord! He told us to scare you under orders of" he declares. Percy laughs and tucks his sword back into his pocket.

"Gentlemen, I am insulted that you do not recognize me," Percy says. The two goblin-resembling creatures stop to tilt their heads. "Because I'm his favorite son." This little bit of ego gives Annabeth the opportunity to slide a knife in each monster's back.

They collapse and she blows on the bloody weapons like they are pistols in an old Western movie. "I love it when they're dumb. It's like a game of improv."

The monsters turn to dust. The students start to file back in. Annabeth shoves her knives in her bag.

And Carter is nowhere to be seen.


	13. Chapter 13

"How does a 14-year-old just disappear? No one saw her at the home, so where can one go with nothing, but school supplies?" Annabeth has sent everyone out on the search party, meanwhile no one actually in charge of them (AKA. the school administration and the group home they are in) seems to care. "Yeah, they told me that kids run away all the time. Obviously that is a bad thing!" She is freaking out over the phone with Percy, it is ten o'clock at night and there is still no sign of Carter.

Jason leans in to the phone speaker, "Maybe they are related to me! Maybe they flew away and are a thousand miles away by now…" Annabeth stares them down. "... or maybe really close and we will definitely find them!"

Focus. Where would you hide. Carter is a freshman, new to town, foster kid- "They are always sketching! Museum!" Annabeth drags Jason by his shirt sleeves as he complains every step of the way.

"What kid voluntarily goes to a museum?"

Annabeth clicks her tongue, "Me."

"Nothing is open!"

"Exactly."

"How do you even know which one?"

Shifting her car to park and grabbing a notebook, Annabeth steps onto the curb. "It's this one. I know it." She gestures for Jason to stay in the car ignores the rain starting to come down.

It was easy to get in. A few easily guess passcodes by the wearing of the keypad, some alarms to turn off, and then the final door in.

She'd been in this particular museum once before. So, she knew to head straight to the art and design exhibit.

But, that's not where she found the wandering pitter-patter of old tennis shoes. A sort of jack-of-all-trades museum, an Ancient Greece design and inventions filled the hall next to it.

Because of course there'd be one. And of course, that is where she would find Carter. They flinch when Annabeth speaks their name, but don't run away.

"Hey," she says, her voice steady, "I thought I'd find you here. Are you okay? Are you hurt?"

Carter shakes their head and clears their throat, "How did you know I'd be here?"

A small smile and, "Because this is where I would have come." She sits down, right in the middle of an empty museum and closes her eyes. "Percy, er, Coach Jackson, mentioned you to me. Are you comfortable with they/them pronouns? And it's just Carter, right? I bet that's not the only reason school is hard.

"You might have trouble with reading, maybe they say you're dyslexic, but I can tell you are more intelligent than some adult humans. You fidget a lot, I do too. I mean, you should see the gang I hang out with- not an actual gang- because we look like a mess. But, that's only to the outside world, we know we are meant for something greater."

A pause, "How… how could you possibly know all that? Did you read my file?" they look hulimilated at the thought of the intrusion.

"No!" Annabeth bites her lip, "Ms. Ferrel, my boss, called me especially about you. I only know a few things, and of course, they are only what people have said about you. Not anything you have. I heard you killed a monster, I remember my first. She listed lots of things that made you trouble, but I don't think any of them are. Most of them fit my description, actually."

"You?" Carter's jaw drop. Ms. Chase was the smartest teacher in the school. She was calm and kind and always composed.

"Yep," she says, "And it has been rough. Man, I have so much to tell you!" She doesn't know where to start, but she is squealing on the inside.

"Can we start right now?" Carter asks.

And so, they sit in the dark until long past midnight, while Annabeth describes what being a demigod means. Rain begs to be let in as, not just the facts, but as she tells her story. She recounts, to her, what it means to be a demigod.

To her, it means getting to save the fucking world.


	14. Chapter 14

They had to take Carter back to the group home but begged pardon for them. Piper sure made it seem like a big misunderstanding. But, Annabeth, Percy, Piper, and Will were all waiting outside near the bus stop to make sure they were safe.

But, they weren't. Will could feel it first. Also, the black eye and busted lip weren't exactly the signs of a soft touch.

Carter isn't sure what this all means. The Gods stuff and all. They've lived a miserable life, all the while being told they are crazy and unwanted and trouble. Trouble. No one ever asked if they were in trouble.

When they got back to their room, they were "disciplined." The woman who ran the place was a big fan of it, public humiliation style. The worst was not being able to fight back. They had to take the punishment that came with attempting to run away.

"But, you chickadees always come running back," she'd sneer. Having to stand there and take it was the worst part.

Annabeth comes running first and wraps Carter in a tight embrace.

They stiffen even though all they want to do if lean in. "I thought teachers weren't supposed to touch students. Sexual harassment suits and all that."

She doesn't budge, "Oh, I don't give a fuck," she says, "I'm getting you out of that place, even if it means burning it to the ground."

It was a new feeling, really. No one had ever shown this much care, or even effort, towards Carter and Ms. Chase barely even knows them. They were given up before they can remember and bounced from foster home to foster home. Some of the families were okay, but it doesn't take more than one horrible one to scar you forever. This home at the moment was really bad. The teens were up till midnight sometimes to finish their chores. Carter hated being told to feel grateful; especially for barely getting the lowest bar of care.

But, someone worked behind the scenes to get them out of jail and out of the mental hospital. They get to go to a mainstream school, that mostly sucks, but then Ms. Chase showed up.

Percy grinned. While his friends were looking at the situation, of Annabeth was digging her claws in, and groaning a bit internally. Percy grinned. He got this warm feeling in his chest whenever Annabeth was bringing out her maternal instincts. They have danced around the conversation of kids for years, but neither of them wants to admit their biggest fear about it. That they would never get the chance to see their child grow up.

Finally backing away from the embrace, Annabeth asks, "Tell me, how bad is it? I'll get you somewhere else."

But, Carter knew better. So, they said it was a one-time accident. Because they didn't want to get moved far away.

Percy walks over to his wife and student, "Carter, I don't know what this woman told you last night, but I'm pretty sure you can't go around telling other people. Okay? Can you keep a secret?"

If only they knew just how well.


	15. Chapter 15

The day is going by slow enough for Carter to have read the dictionary twice. They scribble a building that appeared in their dreams last night. Trying to imagine the mighty temple as it was when it was first built, they work to capture all the angles of its elegance. Carter couldn't tell you how they know it's named.

"Carter? Answer the question." The math teacher is paying more attention to the numbers on the clock then the number on the board.

"No value of x is large enough to make f equal to zero, but f gets arbitrarily close to zero as x approaches infinity (∞). So, the limit of f(x) as x approaches ∞ is 0. Or, symbolically

xf(x) = x1x= 0

Likewise, if x approaches -∞, the function f in this case also gets arbitrarily close to zero." It isn't until they had twenty pairs of eyes on them that they noticed the trip to the whiteboard they had taken. "Uh, here's your marker, Mr. Daniels."

The last bell couldn't come soon enough. Carter was the first one out the door, papers sticking out of their bag and jacket hanging low, tied on their waist. The drawing left unfinished on their desk.

Hazel is working on her backflip. "Come on, Percy! I'm trying!"

He is too busy dragging out some mats and freaking out. This will be good, he tells himself, Right?

"Why'd you want me to come to the gym?" Carter asks, walking into the empty room. "Who is she?" They point to Hazel who is lying in a heap of her own limbs after a failed attempt at her backflip.

Whipping around, Percy laughscoughslaughs, not knowing why he is nervous. "Hey, Carter! This is my friend Hazel, I asked her to help me."

"Help you do what?"

"She's like us. We have all trained for years to fight. You need to as well. We aren't going to hurt you, but I want you to be prepared next time a monster comes.

"Next time?"

"It comes with the family. You will see more monsters, but we can make sure that you are ready. Today is just basics so we can see where you are," Percy explains.

Hazel hurries him up, "Let the expert work, Jackson. Carter, I'm Hazel. I work at Big Gun's Gym, such a stupid name because I am supposed to fit in, but you can trust me. I'm a skilled trainer who-"

"Can kick ass," Percy finishes, "Yeah, yeah, I've heard this spiel all before. Can we get on with it? Let's stretch."

Damn, I get they are excited, but these two are a mess. I would be terrified at all this, so I'm pretty impressed with Carter's unwavering trust.

They don't even get to arm circles before a very angry woman marches through the doors.

"Perseus Jackson! I'm gonna have your head!" Annabeth looks ready to follow through when Piper scrambles in behind her.

"Sorry!" she squeals, "I didn't know this all was a secret!" She tries to get to Annabeth before she can slap Percy, but she is too low too slow.

"Babe, what was that for?"

"Carter has enough to worry about. They are 14-years-old! It's too soon, they aren't ready," she says. Her words are often final, but Percy was not losing this one.

It seems obvious to begin training immediately, but I have also never seen Annabeth like this. She looks… nervous.

"What are you talking about? It's a miracle they made it this far! I killed a minotaur without any prior knowledge when I was twelve."

Annabeth rolls her eyes, "Now isn't the time to claim bragging rights for something you practically did on accident.

"No. Nope. I'm putting my foot down. You better stop this charade right now, Perce, or get ready to sleep on the couch indefinitely."

"Hold on a minute." Carter protests, "Don't I get a say in this? I've already been attacked twice by monsters. And look, Ms. Chase, there is something I wanted to show you… where is it?" Scrambling for something in their bag, Carter groans.

"What is it?" Piper asks.

"We just have to find it!" Carter says.

Annabeth is the first to lead the search for the sketchbook. Looking in every place Carter had been since this morning. And then they get to Mr. Daniel's pre-calc classroom.

"It has to be here," Carter whispers.

Annabeth tilts her chin up. "Good afternoon, Daniel, I am looking for a medium size sketchbook. You know, the kind made out of paper and tears?"

"Ah, yes, I believe Azher left it here. Maybe the kid paid attention in class for once. Azher attempted to humiliate me in second block, this morning, in an act of looking out for my students, I don't think they need this back to distract from any more lessons."

Percy is physically restraining Carter from pummeling his obnoxious co-worker.

But, Ms. Chase just smiles, "If your ego is fragile enough to be broken by a bright student, then you might be an even bigger low-life than I thought. Maybe Carter doesn't pay attention because your necessary telling of your sad life story is distracting. If you want to know what it feels like to really be humiliated, just ask me, and I'd be glad to help out. Now, can you give back a notebook that is student property?"

You really can't say no to that girl.

After going to Annabeth's empty classroom and being joined by Will, Annabeth asks Carter what they wanted to show.

"Is his name really Daniel Daniels?" Carter laughs. Percy explains something about a family name and tradition and such.

"Carter, you are making me nervous, can you show us what was so important?" Piper nudges.

Of course, it is an impeccable 2D replication of the Old Temple of Athena. It wasn't so much the skill of the strokes that drew Annabeth's attention, but the details that could only be taken with a photo for a constant reference point.

"Where," she asked, "Where did you see this?"

"Um, I… it was, um, a picture in the museum last night," Carter says, "But, it just felt important. It's stupid, I know."

"No! Honey, you can always tell me anything." Annabeth realizes what she said when everyone looks at her; Percy ducked his head to hide his grin. "So, you drew this? What picture did you look at for it?"

"I didn't use anything, just memory, I guess."

And that was that. By then, it was time for goodbyes and for Carter to catch the late bus. Only, Annabeth knew there was no picture of her mom's temple hanging in the museum. The only question was, why did Carter feel the need to lie about it?


	16. Chapter 16

Percy feels like he is going to end up in trouble for this somehow. "So, I talked to my dad."

Annabeth's grip tightens on the steering wheel. "About what?"

"The monsters? The low-levels with the grand plan to kill Carter?" He checks his phone. "Yeah, they were never there to kill anyone, only to make us think they were."

"Okay, but what does this have to do with Poseidon?" She isn't really paying attention, more so on trying to figure out how many stop lights there are until the house.

"Remember that they worship him? Yeah, he also sent them."

"Excuse me!"

"Whoa! Wait, they were on your mom's orders."

Annabeth is left with her mouth open, but not being able to think of anything to come out. "Wh...what...why, why would they do that? To prove a point? Like, ah, look at Athena and Poseidon getting along!"

He wishes they were at the beach right now. "Something like that, yeah. I guess there is a new half-blood who they, stuck in their ways, don't want to claim until they see her/himself prove themselves."

That's when Annabeth cracks up, "I get it, now. My mom could have sent someone herself, but, instead, given a chance to make your father look bad, asked him. Probably not nicely. Either way, I might have a sibling around. But, who? I guess she wasn't pleased enough to claim them."

And they laughed about the absurdity of it all until they got back to CampHalfJupiter2.0.


	17. Chapter 17

"Wait, you guys are together?"

Annabeth and Percy break up their i-swear-we-don't-usually-do-this slight make-out sesh when Carter speaks from the doorway.

The couple really does try to keep it under wraps, only because it doesn't need to be a big deal. And relationships are hard enough without being the conversation of the teacher conference rooms and the cafeteria.

But, there was something about this morning. Percy walked Annabeth to her classroom and surprised her with a love poem he memorized. Or kind of, it was an Emily Dickinson that Annabeth knew fairly well, so they stumbled through it together. And, finally, they realized that kissing was much simpler.

"Carter!" Annabeth sputters, nearly knocking Percy through the wall trying to get off her desk. "What are you doing here so early?"

"I invited her," Piper says, annoyed, "And I told you. I thought Nico was coming to your class today, Annabeth."

"He-he is, I just try to never expect him early."

Nico appears on top of some desks, Will behind him, falling onto the floor.

"Ugh, I will never get used to that," Will says.

Nico pouts, "It's really the most effective form of travel."

Judging from Carter's jaw drop, someone should probably explain shadow-travel a tad, at some point, I mean.

Nico jumps down and moves to shake Carter's hand, "Hey, I'm Nico. I'm a demigod too," their fake whisper makes Carter laugh, "yeah, you may have noticed. Annabeth asked me to be a guest speaker for her world history class which I believe you are in. Wait, Chase, I am getting paid, right?"

"Haha. Very funny, di Angelo."

"So," Carter says, "Annabeth is a daughter of Athena and Percy is Poseidon's'. I got that, but what about the rest of you?"

"My father is Hades, which makes me kind of a big deal," Nico says.

"I'm his sister. My father is Hades Roman side, Pluto."

"I'm a daughter of Aphrodite and Will is a son of Apollo."

Will narrows his eyes at Piper, "You stole my line!"

They are all idiots, but Carter is sort of in love. The team is more of a family than anything Carter has ever seen. They had a little time before class and the five demigods welcomed a little one with stories and laughter. They kept the hard part of being like them, quiet, of course. They would only scare the kid if they knew how many people had died close to them.


	18. Chapter 18

**Things were going swell. Percy and Hazel were teaching Carter to fight. Jason came to pick up Piper on afternoon and he and Carter hit it off immediately. Things were going swell. That's when you need to be the most careful. Except, this time might have been worse because there were no ancient monsters to blame. [TRIGGER WARNING: sexual assault]**

It was a new placement, but Carter knew not to get too excited. Foster homes are usually bad, just in different ways. This one was in a pretty decent neighborhood and, hey, there weren't bars on the window.

It was just the boy. The parents were Mr. and Mrs. Linop, and they had a son a few grades above Carter, named Randall. Man, they must've hated him to give him that name.

It's only been a few days, and he hasn't really said anything, yet. The parents treat him so much like royalty, Carter wonders why they didn't find another way to make money besides fostering.

You know, sometimes, when something is off. Only, sometimes, you don't know soon enough.

Carter grabbed the plate of cold pizza that was left out for them as dinner and went to the room they were staying in.

It was a perfectly fine room, but it looked like something out of a cartoon. The drapes were much too thick for the feel of the room. The colors all clashed and some stuff looked a 100 years old while some practically had price tags still on them. It was tacky, that's all.

Carter is drilling some stuff for her biology class when Mrs. Linop pokes her head in the door.

"Hey, Azher, Mr. Linop and I have to go to a small work event for a few hours. Okay? Randall will be here if you need anything." _Or because you don't trust the troublesome foster kid_.

And it should have been fine. Carter was just finishing up for the night with a book and the Linops were supposed to be getting home soon.

That is not who came in the door. "Yo, kid," Randall says, "What are you doing?"

"Just some homework. Can I help you?"

His laugh feels like nails dragged down a chalkboard. "Yeah, yeah, I think you might. Question is? Will I like it?"

"I have no idea what you are talking about." But, Carter was getting a very clear understanding as the boy drew closer to the bed.

"What? You got something to hide? I have a some street rat living in I'm house, and I think I deserve to know… are you a boy or a girl? Do you dress like a qu**r on fucking purp-" Carter jumps off the bed with a choke hold on the boy, scrambling to remember everything they've learned in training.

"You do not want to finish that sentence," they growl.

The only problem is, Randall wants this fight. He wants to play this sick game.

He smiles and shoves Carter against a wall, "I'm not going to hurt you. I bet, you'll find that you like this real good."

The thing you can never truly get with training to fight- your response to horrible things. Carter wishes they could say that they fought, and they tried, but they would've run away if they could have.

 **And honestly, I can't write anymore. Randall Linop did hurt Carter. I'm sorry, but I can only tell you what happened. I'm only narrating. The monsters of the real world don't go away just because you are a demigod.**

 **Note if you skipped it:** **I am proud of you for taking care of yourself. And, honestly, it wasn't that good a scene.**


	19. Chapter 19

Again, it was Will who knew first. Carter came in for some Tylenol. The first reg flag was the uncharacteristic long sleeves and pants in warm weather.

Will asked to take their pulse, casually rolling the sleeve up. "Carter," he says, "Where did you get all of these bruises?"

"I fell," they stutter, "playing a game of football. Like, not a team."

"A pick-up game?"

"Yeah. That."

"I didn't know you were into sports." Will forces himself to look cheery, "Who did you play with?"

 _It was a game_ , Carter grimaces, remembering last night _, it's like he wants to see how far he can push his limits in life. He said that we were, "just playing."_

"Um, nobody. I mean, not nobody, obviously there were people, you just wouldn't know them."

Will closes the door to his office and sits across from Carter. "Do you know what the best part about being a demigod has been for me?" Carter doesn't look up from the floor, "You will never be alone again. We will protect you with our dying breath. All of us. Do you know that you still haven't met Leo, Jason, Frank, or Calypso, yet. She's a goddess, can you believe it?

"You have an army at your back. Ready to pummel whoever hurts you, no questions asked, okay? But, you don't have to tell me right now, I won't try to make you. We are always here if you need us."

Together, they make their way through the crowded halls.

When they got to her classroom, Will lied and said he had something to ask Annabeth.

 **Maybe he should have counted on it being Annabeth. And with it-**

"What?" she roars, "Who hurt you? Doesn't matter," she decides. She writes a sloppy message on the board 'ALL CLASSES CANCELLED TODAY - FAMILY EMERGENCY,' the date, and her signature. "Whoever it was… He. Will. Regret. His. Whole. Life. Before-"

"Whoa, Annabeth!" Will tries to stop her and gets thrown into the lockers.

Carter is still frozen, looking at a word, on the board: family. It just felt different coming from her. More important.

Once at the front doors, having walked straight past her boss, Annabeth throws the front doors open. Percy and Will ask her what she needs.

"Percy, Carter, meet me in the car. Will, stay here, but know that I will be back and I am going to burn of his fingers one by one." _Hopefully not,_ Will thinks _, but we'd better be careful._

She knew that whatever happened, couldn't be blown up before she had a sure safe place to land. And with that, she was off.

Annabeth turns in the driver's seat to look at Carter, "Honey, I need to know everything that happened and anything else concerning it. I know it'll be hard, but we'll get through this. Percy—"

"I already have started the process of being vetted to be eligible to foster a kid," he says.

She turns to him in, loving, shock, "What? How did you?"

"Wise girl, I know you. I know us. And I know there is a young demigod who needs our help. Plus, I know how you felt after we lost the baby."

Time's over, her head snaps up, "No, no, we do not need to talk about that. Thank you, Percy, for the foresight. I'll see if Piper can speed up any proceedings. But, Carter is not going back to that house, you hear me? That's where it happened, right?"

Carter nods and begins to stitch together the ugliest tapestry a child of Athena could make. Tears sliding down her face, but now, maybe not in silence.

* * *

Is anyone still reading this? I have some new ideas that will take this all on a turn. Only if I know people are enjoying it, I so love getting reviews from you guys!


	20. Chapter 20

It had been an agonizing few hours for Carter. Annabeth and Percy had both cried. When they turned on the radio for music, they got a weather warning for crazy local flooding coming out of nowhere.

"Oops?" Percy said.

Now, he and Carter were sitting on the steps of the courthouse. Annabeth was in there, and she was just about screaming when they left.

"Hey," Percy gulps, "I can't imagine what your going through. I don't know your past, but someday, I'd like to. You know, this isn't your fault. None of it is. My stepfather growing up as pretty bad, so I know how much it sucks."

"You too?"

"Yeah, it's a long story, but he mostly abused my mom. And now," he continues, "She is now living a successful life with a much less smelly husband who I think I have to like. She got away and she is happy. You can do the same. I think you are a lot like her."

"Are you close with your mom?"

"Definitely, she was all I had growing up. She is kind and puts everyone else in front of her own needs. She is so strong. I love my mom. I think you'll get to meet her someday, she'd love you immediately."

Carter starts crying a bit, but this time it isn't quite sadness. Nonetheless, Percy pulls them into a hug without thinking. When he realizes that he should've asked, he starts to let go, but they only hold on tighter.

Annabeth found her way through every loophole and regulation until those papers were in her hands. Slightly smug, but mostly elated at the outcome, Annabeth descends the steps of the building.

"Carter, only three things left to do," she announces. And noticing Carter start to slump, she hurries on, "Number one, talk to those gross people who call themselves foster parents, I already got them with a charge to keep them from fostering for a long time. Two, teach that sucker, Randall, a thing or too. And lastly, Carter? Pack your bags, your staying with us."

Carter grins, but in shock.

Percy hoots, "CampHalfJupiter2.0!"

Annabeth groans, "Is that name seriously sticking?"

"Sticking like a glue stick," he laughs.

Annabeth and Carter correct him in sync, "You got the idiom wrong."


	21. Chapter 21

**Percy may have called ahead. While he isn't always confident about his book smarts or emotional bonding, he can be fun. He can party, so they do.**

When the three get home from the troublesome day, they are greeted with balloons racing around the room, courtesy of the son of Jupiter, and, my gods, so many damn streamers.

"Welcome home, Carter!" the room cheered. Piper and Will were familiar faces as well as Hazel, Jason, and Nico. But, there were some people – later introduced as Frank, Leo and, Calypso – that were still unconditionally ready to welcome someone new.

Carter grabbed onto Annabeth in surprise and that did it. Annabeth starts bawling and kissing their forehead and then returned to squeezing them in a hug.

"We did," she whispers, "I will never stop fighting for you. I don't know what you did, but I feel like this was meant to be."

 **I can't tell you what did it exactly. Maybe it was Annabeth's confession or everyone standing in the same room. But, there they all were. All staring at the space above Carter's head. It wasn't like anything they'd seen before.**

"What?" Carter demands. "Why is everyone staring at me like that?"

"I've never seen that symbol before," Jason mutters.

Before Carter can panic, Annabeth places a hand on her shoulder, "We saw your claimed symbol. Jason is right, it looks different. Everything makes sense now, Αθήνα κλής."

"My mother is Athena?" they ask, looking boggled.

"Yeah, Carter, we are ομομήτριος." Annabeth had sucked some helium out of the balloons without anyone noticing, so it was extra funny when her voice was distorted.

 **Carter admits confusion at Annabeth's term of endearment, later on, when it's just the two of them. Annabeth tells them it's a gender-neutral term for a younger sibling. "From the same mother," essentially.**

The sign, a glimmering image of the Old Temple of Athena, fades away after a while. But, the party is going far too well for anyone to notice.


	22. Ch 22 - Carter

Thought a change of pace was needed. POV change to Carter. Hope you enjoy!

* * *

 _*cracks knuckles*_ This is where it gets good.

You see, it's just me, Carter. I have the point of view and I get to tell the rest of this story.

 **HooOO! They are just snappy now, aren't they?**

My life has always been a wreck, but this year, it got crazy. Remember? I found out I was a demigod, tried to run away, was then placed in a heinous foster home, and got switched to live with the loony bin. I honestly cannot figure out how Annabeth convinced anyone that this house was a good fit.

Wait! I mean, it is. But, I imagine it may be hard for outsiders to believe.

My new roomates seem to agree.

Percy jumps on the couch to avoid Jason's "air brooming."

"Hey!" Hazel yells, "I just cleaned the couch!"

"Don't worry," Percy replies, "I'm wearing clean socks so I don't mess anything up." And then he proceeds to fall off the piece of furniture.

It's sweet, actually. The social worker on my case is coming over for an inspection. CampHalfJupiter2.0 has been scrambling for the past two days to clean this disaster of a house. Unfortunately, none of them have powers of cleaning.

It's not _that_ big of a house. It's just what they could afford when they first got into town and then everyone ended up staying. All 10 people. Now, I'm here and Calypso is about to burst.

Annabeth comes down looking frazzled with her hair in a complete rats nest. "We still have to clean the bathrooms! This lady is coming tomorrow-"

"Today," Percy corrects her.

"Today," she mumbles, "Today! Oh gods, I'm not even dressed!"

I walk over to her and grab her face. "We have two hours. It's all going to be alright. We will get you into a shower and something nice. We still have people cleaning after your directions, this place already looks a thousand times better. You guys haven't done anything wrong, there is nothing this lady can do, but pass us. Okay, let's go." I walk Annabeth up the stairs and throw a towel in the dryer for when she finishes.

I didn't get all the way down the stairs before I catch Percy and Leo staring at me.

"What?"

"You," Percy stammers and then laughs, "You calmed Annabeth down. That deserves some sort of medal."

"Got it!" Leo says, rushing off, excited for any project.

"Don't make a mess, Leo!" Percy calls, probably already to late.

 **I can tell you, completely unbiasedly, that they did a good job. Especially considering the state the house was in before. I'm talked random weapons lying around, metal parts from Leo's various projects, animal air and feathers from Frank's various (not always successful) transformations, and more general disaster these idiots leave lying around.**

There is the knock on the door. I saw "the" knock because we were all waiting for it. I mean, I've been through this a dozen times, but never wanting to be able to stay like this.

Annabeth practically tackles Percy to be the one to open the door.

"Ms. Mackleberry, welcome." She puts on a voice I don't think I've heard before.

The social worker buys it right away, "You must be Annabeth Chase, the foster mom?"

"Yes. And this is Percy Jackson who is the foster father."

"Are you two married?" Mackleberry asks, getting out her clipboard.


	23. Chapter 23

Annabeth plays innocent, "I didn't know that was a factor."

"Well, it isn't a requirement," Mackleberry says, "Only, research shows that children tend to do better in stable homes and that includes stable relationships."

 _What makes a sucky marriage any better than a good relationship?_

"Well, of course," Annabeth coos, "I assure you that my boyfriend and I are in perfectly good standing. Apologies, how rude am I? Let me take your coat, would you like anything to drink?"

"Who are all these people? Finishing up a party?"

"No!" Annabeth says. I can tell she is wondering if the truth is any better. "This is my family, we are all living here at the moment."

A pause. "How many people are living here, Ms. Chase?"

"Right now? Um, eleven," she stammers, "But, each of us has a stable job and we all adore Carter. Percy and I plan to move out to our own place."

"Hmm. You use the child's last name in place of-"

Alright, there has been a little too much pretending I am not in the room. "I asked them too. I prefer it. Annabeth and Percy have been amazing. If my voice counts for anything, I'm not sure I could've gotten through my last placement without them. I've never felt so… cared for."

Ms. Mackleberry seems to soften just a bit, "Your voice does count. I am glad to hear all this. However, we do have to continue the evaluation, of course."

"Of course, Ms. Mackleberry," Percy says, turning up his charm, "Right this way."

It goes well for the most part. One violation of the fire code and a few smacks on the hand, but I really think we might make it.

Until she opens up the closet. Innocent enough, probably expecting coats. Of course, that's not when she sees.

I don't know all the ins and outs of how the Mist works. But, a human shouldn't see a pile of celestial bronze weapons, right? Everyone is looking at Jason, the one who was supposed to shove these in the shed.

"Oh!" I laugh because no one is breathing. "Sorry, Ms. Mackleberry, these sticks should really be outside. Leo, over there is always working on something or another. I've been learning a lot of mechanical engineering from him, it's so cool." _Please see just sticks._

A puzzled expression crosses her face as if her mind is making up with to see. "Sorry about that, then. Lastly, for today's visit, I would like to sit down with each of your for a quick interview. Just to make sure this is a good fit. Who's first?"

Annabeth raises her hand, "Sorry, didn't mean to do that. How about we sit on the couch."

When Ms. Mackleberry makes it clear that I'm not to follow, I get another idea. I gather everyone out of hearing distance.

"I gotta know what they are saying, who can help me out here? Any abilities, if you know what I mean?" I don't know them all perfectly, even know on some levels I feel like I do.

"Maybe, maybe we shouldn't risk anything," Percy stammers. His friends look at him a little shocked. _So, that confirms my theory that her isn't usually the one for thought-out plans_ , I think.

Hazel points a thumb at Frank, "He could turn into something small that could fit through the vents."

"You could carry some sort of mic," Piper agrees.

"What like a rat?" Jason says, gagging.

Frank is not impressed, "Come on, you guys!"

* * *

Who is rooting for Carter?


	24. Chapter 24

He ends up morphing into a small cat because they are quiet and small, but can still hold Leo's jerry-rigged microphone.

Crackling audio soon comes on through Leo's phone.

 **You are going to see this roll through like captions on a film.**

"... you have quite the educational background, Ms. Chase."

"Yes, I spent quite a bit of time in school."

[laughter]

"That's Annabeth!" I hiss. I'm not sure why my heart is pounding.

"Tell me about your relationship with Azher's potential foster father."

"Well, we've been together since we were kids [insert quite a bit of stumbling]. Not kids like that! Old, [cough] older teenagers. We've known each other a long time. We've been through a lot, but I trust him with my life."

[crinkling of a paper flipping over]

"Is there any history of abuse? Could there be any in the future?"

[Hysterical laughter] "That boy couldn't hurt me if he tried! I mean, he never has and never will. Neither of us would ever harm Carter that way. Or anyway!"

Wow, I have never heard Annabeth sound so nervous. She seems to be doing fine, but it is not her best work.

"I have not heard or seen anything to makes me think you two are not fit for each other. Now, you've covered most of the documentation already, but I have a few more questions." [Cough, cough, sneeze]

"Gítses."

You can tell she said it out of habit. Just like how anyone says "bless you."

"Excuse me?"

"I said bless you."

"No, you didn't."

"Oh! I must've said it in Greek, didn't I? I'm sort of a… heritage speaker."

"Why that's spectacular! Did you speak it at home growing up?"

[A pause.]

"No. No, not exactly."

I haven't gotten much out of any of my new friends about their childhoods. I lean closer to the speaker even though it doesn't really change much.

"Would you care to elaborate on anything of your own childhood. Mrs. Chase?"

"Um… my mom left when I was born. I, uh, had a stepmother when I was older though."

"So, this all was good, yes?"

"Sure thing."

"The last thing we like to ask, and there's not a right answer. Are you all religious in this house? And how might that affect the child?"

[Verrrrrryyyyy long pause.]

"We don't consider ourselves to belong to any denomination, specifically. But, we are spiritual and have central beliefs that there are people watching over us and that, um, people are inherently good, I guess."

Probably better than anything I could do. I didn't think much of it before, but now that I know gods are real? And that they are crazy? Man, talk about whiplash.

"Are you going to try and proselytize Azher?"

"Um, no, not exactly, I mean, no, not at all! They are free to believe whatever is in their heart."

"How lovely. I believe it is all I have to ask you, specifically. [More paper crinkling] Oh, dear, I don't seem to have much on your previous places of residence?"

"You don't?"

"No, I just need documentation on your last few years of residence."

"You do? [Suspicious nervous laughter] Well, I've been here."

"Hmm, don't see any paperwork on that here, dear."

"That's odd."


	25. Chapter 25

**Gosh, we left off with Annabeth being asked where she has lived. What is she supposed to say? Oh, I was at camp and then Tarturus for a while.**

Percy's hand tightens on my shoulder.

"What's wrong?" I ask him.

"She, uh, she kind of ran away from home when she was seven. And then she was at camp. It's just a mess. We have barely lived here three years. It's her only place to talk about."

I bit my lip as Annabeth starts talking again.

"I'm not sure what you mean. Hazel's name is the main one on the house, but Piper handles our finances most of the time."

"The psychologist?"

"Now all we need," Percy whispers, "Is a way to get Piper in there. She can talk this all away."

"Do you guys really think this is the best option? What happens when it wears off?"

I look between Percy and Piper. "When what wears off?"

They ignore me. "Just get her to sign something, she can't go around saying she doesn't remember filling out official permission forms. Right?"

It is only when Piper shuffles out of the room that anyone bothers to explain anything to me.

Jason says, "Piper can talk people into things. It's called charmspeak. They will believe anything she says, basically."

"Hmm. I guess that can come in handy."

"So, sorry to interrupt, Ms. Mackberry, but I do believe I forgot to hand off an important record of Ms. Chase's living situations. This is what you needed. Everything is on there. Just sign your little papers and forget this one right here."

"The blank piece of paper?"

Note extreme slurring of her words. The more Piper talks the more Ms. Mackleberry repeats the lie back to her. Although, the next thing she says may be even worse.

"I have all the paperwork for that. That is all I need from you right now, Ms. Chase, thank you for your time. Next, I need to speak to Mr. Jackson."

We all turn to each other as if this wasn't suspected.

As Percy gets up to walk away, I stage whisper, "Tuck in your shirt!"

[A cat meows over the speaker.]

MS. M: "What was that?"

P: "That's Frank's ringtone, he must have left it in here somewhere. Should we sit down?"

So far so good, I think, don't do anything stupid.

"Alright, Perseus Jackson is your full name, correct?"

"Yes, ma'am."

[Unintelligible mumbling about it being an odd name.]

"Here it says Azher almost got into a physical fight, but as the coach, you didn't report it."

I realize that he knows we are all listening.

Annabeth plops on the floor near me, "I knew you guys would want to eavesdrop. How's he doing?"

"She asking him about school," I respond. She stays quiet.

"It was the first day and both of their first offenses. I had a hard time in school when I was young, so I try to be patient with kids."

"Does this mean you don't plan to hold any kind of discipline in the house because-"

"There is a difference between discipline to explain and model better choices and not asking questions before giving a student detention. You said they almost got into a fight, but they hadn't, not yet. I believe what the other student was shouting at Carter was very hateful and horribly transphobic. That is not okay. I talked to that student separately and explained that I didn't think staying after school a few times would help anything. I told them why comments like that are hurtful and why we don't say that. I haven't have to speak to either of them twice.

[A pause.]

"Well said, Mr. Jackson. I hope I don't need to explain why I have to ask these next few questions. Have you experienced abuse? Do you drink? Or are you angered easily?"

"I don't drink at all. I don't get angry very much, unless someone I love has gotten severely injured, but even then, I imagine I react appropriately. I grew up with an abusive stepfather, that is one reason I choose to never raise my voice around children. My mother is the only reason I got through those years."

"Why did she stay with him, your mother?"

Annabeth squeezes my hand and says a curse under her breath.

"Do you have another question for me on topic for this interview, Ms. Mackleberry?"

[Papers are being shuffled.]

"Tell me about yourself Mr. Jackson. Why do you think you and Ms. Chase are fit to be foster parents? What will show to be your strengths?"

"Wow, um, well, the people in this house are all very smart. You probably know about Annabeth's education. Leo is a successful mechanical engineer, Jason is a flight instructor, Piper is a trained children and adolescents therapist, Frank is a large animal vet and zoo keeper, and Will is a nurse, I couldn't list all of the things we can teach Carter. Between all of us, we speak English, Italian, Greek, Latin, and Spanish, Louisiana French and Canadian French."

[Ms. Mackleberry chuckles.]

"You all hold quite the resume, Mr. Jackson."

"Thanks."

"But, I want to hear about you."

"What do you know about Azher's biological parents?"

"Um, not much, I thought they passed."

"It seems the father is alive. What do you think would be your reaction if Ms. Carter, the father, was to try to re-enter Azher's life?"

[Long pause.]

"It is often the best for children to be with their biological parents. But, the man would have to prove he was capable enough

"I think that's the most words I've ever heard him say at once," says Annabeth.


	26. το τέλος

And so, Ms. Mackleberry leaves, driving away in her yellow Volkswagen Bug. The friends wave her off, knowing that they scraped by, only by the skin of their teeth. And also, they realize that she will be back.

As soon as the door closes and everyone lets out a breath, Annabeth scoops me up in a hug, "It's official, baby! You get to stay with us! We have so much to teach you, I mean, I'll tell you about our mother, and fighting, you need to pick your weapon-"

"Annabeth, we have time. Let's just have dinner for now," Percy says.

Everyone turns to Leo.

He sighs, "Why is everyone looking at me for?"

Calypso kisses him on the cheek, "Because you're the best cook around, honey," she says.

He grumbles all the way to the kitchen, "Machines! Tools! That's my thing…" but secretly happy with the compliments and attention.

Piper is about to ask me something but gets distracted by Calypso. "Oh gods, your bump just got bigger, Caly!"

She's right. Whereas I hadn't known she was pregnant at all, Calypso suddenly, um, is sprouted the right word? A baby bump. I share my (delighted) surprise and Leo runs out of the kitchen.

"It happened? I missed it, _aye, mi amor_ , how do you feel? Should I make soup instead? Can I touch you?"

His wife chuckles and holds his hand over her belly. They both look like they might cry, so Piper nudges us into another room.

"So, they expected that? How far along is she? Isn't it usually more subtle?" I ask,

Annabeth laughs, "Is it usually the baby of a goddess-nymph and a half-blood? We knew the timeline might look a little different."

Sighing, Piper comments, "They look so happy." Jason gulps.

Percy brushes my hair with his fingers a bit, "Sometimes families come together in different ways. Who knows, maybe their baby will turn out to have dumbo ears."

"Percy!" Jason laughs.

"No," he insists, "Like literal elephant ears."

It feels big all of sudden, that I was put into Annabeth's classroom. That I was in the gym that day and that Will noticed my bruises. I'm not saying it was meant to be, but I feel extremely lucky that it did happen.

Annabeth is right, I am excited for all that I am going to learn. I remember watching them fight that monster, it was just crazy. They were all so in-sync in the fight, always knowing their next attack. Annabeth looks kind of like an eagle when she's in battle.

She is always paying attention to everything around her, waiting for the right time to strike. She is fearless and powerful. She is everything I want to be.

She is the closest thing I've had to a mom. It's not like I'm going to be raised by my real one, and a big sister comes pretty close.

Anything and everything can change because of one slip in battle. Everything you have can disappear in a second, and something huge can pop up just as fast.

All I know for sure is, I am where I need to be. And I love my family. I love Nico's stubbornness and Will's kindness. I love watching Leo build things and Calypso grow them. Piper looks like moving water when she fights and Jason helps me fly around the backyard. Hazel is always a teacher, always wise while, Frank is just hilarious.

And Percy and Annabeth saved me. I can't wait to live, not just survive.

The End (For real this time, guys.)

Fin

το τέλος

Finis

* * *

UPDATE (2/28/19): It's not the end, and I'm not sure it ever will be, haha. I made Part III a new story (same title) just to make it easier for myself, but it is a direct continuation of the story, only a few weeks later. You might be interested in what Carter's getting up to, you know? If you have suggestions please comment or PM me!


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